Parking Annual Report

As the Chair of the Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee, I am pleased to present Brighton & Hove’s City Council’s Annual Parking Report for 2019/20.

Parking and traffic management is an important public service, which provides benefits for pedestrians, cyclists, motorists and the wider community. Those benefits include maintaining road safety and access to jobs, goods and services and access to the city for blue badge holders.

Air quality remains a top concern among our residents, especially during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and we are continuing with a range of initiatives to tackle this issue. Reducing our toxic emissions to become carbon neutral by 2030 remains a vital priority, and transport has a vital role to play in our transition to net-zero.

Brighton and Hove City Council now has 200 electric vehicle charging points, with plans to roll out even more. An increase in electric vehicle uptake is one of the obvious ways through which pollutants can be reduced and air quality can be improved.

I hope you find this Annual Report 2019-20 informative and interesting, and I thank you for taking the time to read it.

3 times overall winner of best parking annual report

3639 resident permits are on issue

35 individuals were prosecuted for misuse of a blue badge

99% of faulty Pay and Display machines were fixed within 24 hours

65% of surplus income was spent on concessionary bus fares

124,098 On Street Penalty Charge Notices were issued.

All 4 of the council's barrier car parks are accredited with the 'Park Mark' award.

200 Electric charging points are now installed in the city

2,239 parking bay suspensions for events, building works and house removals

41,834 on street parking spaces in the city

Requests for on street electric charging points increased by 39%

We have 857 cycle parking spaces across the city

There are 1,320 disabled bays across the city

This has been an exceptional constantly evolving time and we have been doing our best to manage and adapt accordingly.

The Parking Services Management team have continued to review all our roles and functions while the situation has been changing rapidly and staff have responded by working flexibly, forging new partnerships and relying on others in ways that they have never had to before. I’m proud of how we’ve all adapted and how much has been accomplished in the last few months. We have acted swiftly to:

• Introduce planned changes to concessionary travel early, extending the 24hr pass to older people for a few months to help them make essential journeys when they needed to.
• Automatically renew blue badges so that our most vulnerable residents did not have a break in service.
• Provide concessions for NHS staff, key workers and social care workers during the coronavirus pandemic whilst balancing the needs of residents living around the hospital.
• Review and implement a new application and renewal process for resident permits / visitor permits following the ongoing closure of the front desk
• Keep the phone lines open with a small team socially distancing in the office.
• Ensure the Traffic Control Centre remained as a 24-hour service and Maintenance Technicians were still maintaining a 7am-7pm seven day a week service.
• Employ an interim ‘soft touch’ parking enforcement approach during the lockdown period which focussed on priority areas and to provide help and advice to people about how and where to park.
• Allow Civil Enforcement Officers to support with food deliveries and stewarding road closures and the opening of waste centres.

Some of these changes would usually take months to plan and implement; but we have had to do this in weeks. We have also been in close liaison with the British Parking Association and PATROL to ensure any changes / proposals met with updated guidance.

All through this period we have worked hard to outline that Parking Services provides an important policy lever encouraging greater use of active travel such as walking and cycling as well as increased use of public transport as services recover. This has included supporting with the work being taken forward by the wider transport group on the reallocation of road space to pedestrians and cyclists.

This has been a very difficult and worrying time for everybody, so a key message has been around maintaining good health and that wellbeing is essential. We can only do the best for the city and respond effectively against COVID-19 for our customers if we’re staying safe and healthy. The Council have worked hard to create a new wellbeing zone to support staff during this difficult time as well as ensuring their health and safety is maintained as much as possible whether working in the office, on site or in the office.

As the situation develops, we are continuing to review all our roles and responsibilities as well as ensuring we are adaptable to any change in circumstances.

Brighton and Hove City Council’s Parking service aims to be at the forefront of new and relevant parking initiatives. We aim to promote best practice and continual quality improvement across the service and within the parking industry as a whole.

Demand for parking in Brighton & Hove far outstrips the supply of kerb space available in many areas, and the Council seeks to maintain an active balance between the different demands – from residents, visitors, businesses and their deliveries and customers, and access for disabled people.

The main objective is to keep traffic moving, avoiding unsafe and obstructive parking, and making sure there is good access for pedestrians, cyclists, buses and other vehicles.

We continue to build on the excellent close working relationships with our partners in Sussex Police, East Sussex County Council, Brighton and Sussex University, Visit Brighton and local businesses and contractors to provide joined up solutions to the problems that careless or inconsiderate parking can create.

This year’s annual report will focus on how we have been looking forward to, embracing and investing in future facing research and innovation in the following ways:

2.1 The environment and enhancing quality of life

It is estimated that 41% (2011 census) of Brighton and Hove residents owns a vehicle and there are 103,944 cars and vans on our roads (2017).

The access for kerbside parking continues to intensify, and parking enforcement is one of the crucial links to the reduction of air pollution by keeping the traffic flow moving in the following ways:

• Enforcing vehicles causing obstruction and lobbying the Department of Transport for a change in legislation to enforce pavement parking.
• Enhancing the quality of life in local neighbourhoods including working with schools to reduce dangerous parking outside the school gates.
• In September 2019 we launched the Breath in Brighton Anti Idling Campaign to encourage motorists to turn off their engines when the vehicle is idle.

2.2 Equality of Access to our Services

As part of the Equalities Act 2010 and the council’s corporate policy, we are committed to promoting equality.

• Equality Impact Assessments - When we have a change to a policy or a new project such as the installation of the Electric Vehicle charging points; we carry out an initial Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) to demonstrate how services and decisions when changing service delivery, may impact on all groups.
• Carers Permits -The Parking Services team continues to administer Professional Carer and Carer permits for people working within the healthcare services who need to visit patients or residents receiving care in their homes within the Controlled Parking Zones. The permits help to assist residents to stay in their homes for longer by enabling easy access to provide care to those people in the community who may require assistance.
• Blue Badges - We are committed to improving parking for disabled people and reducing abuse of disabled spaces. As the city continues to grow it is imperative that we provide a parking and transport network, so all individuals have access to safe and secure parking and travel.

For more information on our commitment to equalities please visit our website.

2.3 The Economy

Transport and parking is a major factor influencing economic performance and growth potential.

• Population - Brighton & Hove is a tightly constrained, compact city with a population of 288,200 this is expected to grow to 298,400 by 2024.
• New Homes - Brighton & Hove City Council has set provision for a minimum of 13,200 new homes to be built over the period 2010-2030.
• Tourism - Whilst the impact of Brexit and COVID-19 remains a key source of uncertainty, tourism remains buoyant. The city attracted 11 million visitors in 2019, an increase of 1.5% compared to 2018 and the city is the most popular seaside resort in the UK of overseas visitors.

Parking and transport infrastructure must be designed and continually reviewed and updated to keep up with individual business requirements, demographics and characters of each area, to ensure economic growth within the city.

2.4 Education and Integration

It is important to us that our all residents’, visitors and staff are updated on parking and transport initiatives through our website and social media pages. Many local journeys are less than 5km. The healthiest option for short journeys is active travel; walking, jogging, roller skating and cycling including electrically assisted bicycles.

We understand public transport may not always be as convenient as the car, and for other journeys walking and cycling will sometimes be impractical. Our aim is to ensure that people with access to a car have better information on more efficient use.

Brighton, like many cities is suffering from poor air quality, with air pollution levels, specifically Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), continuing to exceed EU and English standards for a number of roads in Brighton.

Brighton & Hove is striving to become a Carbon Neutral City by 2030

Air pollution is the largest environmental risk to public health. It contributes to cardiovascular disease, lung cancer and respiratory diseases. Bad air quality affects everyone and it has a disproportionate impact on the young and old, the sick and the poor.

A good transport system and services are fundamental to our economy and our quality of life. We have also long recognised that transport has adverse impacts on the environment. Avoiding dangerous climate change means we must act in Brighton and Hove, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport.

3.1 Investing in sustainable transport

The Council has made great strides to reduce the adverse impacts of transport on its air quality including:

The introduction of an Ultra-Low Emission Zone for buses covering North Street

• Securing significant levels of funding to retro-fit the city’s bus fleet supporting further progress towards Ultra Low emission vehicles
• Investing in electric vehicle infrastructure which has seen 200 electric vehicle charging points installed in residential areas this year and the development of electric hubs with rapid charging facilities for taxis
• Offering a 50% discount for resident parking permits for eligible low-emission vehicles
• Developing a cycling and walking infrastructure, creating 38km of cycle lanes and providing better connected cycling and walking routes through the city centre
• Displaying signage across the city centre to discourage engine idling at key junctions and taxi ranks
• Working with schools to raise awareness and encourage behavioural change to the use of sustainable travel by children and their carers’ and to prevent idling outside school gates

How are we going to achieve our goals?

Ultra-Low Emission Zones

The Council has developed a number of successful strategies to cut air pollution, including securing government funding to fit buses and taxis with clean air technology, introducing an Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) and establishing an Air Quality Programme Board.

In October 2019 Brighton & Hove welcomed the first buses in the UK that can be set to run in zero-emissions mode whenever they travel through a city centre. Brighton & Hove Buses have invested £9.9 million in 30 new hybrid electric buses.

The buses are set to run in zero-emissions mode every time they enter the Ultra Low Emission Zones (ULEZ) improving air quality in the city centre and using fuel very efficiently, reducing the emission that contribute to climate change.

The new buses have been deployed to the busy route 5, which is used by 7.6 million people a year and equates to 133,104 emission-free miles driven in the ULEZ each year.

Managing Director of Brighton & Hove Buses Martin Harris said:

“We wanted these buses to reflect the city and the communities they serve. It’s a tribute to Brighton life and to the people who live here. Our aim is to help improve air quality for everybody by continually cutting emissions and reducing our energy and fuel use. These new buses are an important part of our commitment to making Brighton & Hove a clean air city.”

200 on-street electric vehicle charging points have been installed in Brighton and Hove.

In November 2019, almost 500 electric vehicles were registered in the city, so the need for charging points is apparent.

The below table show the number of requests for On-Street Charging Points.

Alongside this 12 new rapid charging units were in place in April 2020.

22 mandatory electric vehicle parking bays have been marked and we will continue to monitor the remaining spaces. Non-EV cars parked in a mandatory EV bay may be subject to a Penalty Charge Notice.

In August 2020 there were:

• 126 unique users on the network
• 650 charging events
• 3,463kWh of electricity delivered (roughly 12,121 miles worth)
• Equivalent to just shy of three tonnes (2,925kg of CO2 equivalent) of emissions savings
• The biggest charging event which saw 80kWh taken from the charge point network

The work has been funded thanks to £300,000 from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) and a further £100,000 investment from Electric Blue who were chosen to install, maintain and manage the charging points.

Electric Taxi Hubs

On the 9th April 2019 Brighton & Hove City Council was awarded £468,000 to introduce 4 Electric Taxi Hubs. These hubs contain 3 rapid charging units that will serve up to 6 six vehicles simultaneously at each site.

Four rapid taxi charging hubs are also being proposed in

• Preston Park
• Ashton Rise
• Brighton Racecourse
• Victoria Road

View more information on EV charging in the city. 

Further information can be found in Appendix 2 including a list of all Council owned EV charger points in Brighton & Hove.

In Brighton and Hove, we currently have 38 kilometres of Designated Cycle Routes.

Investing in sustainable, active travel

Developing better cycling routes and encouraging the use of the bike share scheme is part of the Council’s plan to encourage sustainable, active travel. The development of 38km of cycle lanes has led to a doubling of cycling to work in the city in the last 10 years and continued investment by the Council in cycling infrastructure will see the development of a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan over the next year.

Why do people cycle?

• Because it is healthy
• Cycling is enjoyable 
• Saves time and saves money

Why do people cycle?

• Fear of being in a collision
• Too much traffic
• Worried about secure cycle parking

Behaviour change

To support ongoing sustainable travel behaviour change, the Council offers both school and workplace travel planning. There are also a range of sustainable travel information resources available to the public. In the last twelve months the Road Safety Teams have promoted the following campaigns:

• Safe pass action days with Sussex Police to highlight to drivers, the need to give cyclists a safe 1.5m gap when they overtake.
• The Share the Space, Drop Your Pace campaign which encourages cyclists to slow down on shared paths for vulnerable pedestrians, and for pedestrians to be aware of cyclists
• Exchanging Places - raising awareness of blind spots.

Vehicles are not only a potential safety hazard when in motion. They can also present a hazard to the public when parked, especially so, when parked illegally or obstructively and herein lies the integral role of Civil Enforcement Officers. Parking management helps to improve road safety in four principal ways:

• Restricting the overall demand for parking
• Reconciling/prioritising road user needs.
• Mitigating instances of illegal and obstructive parking
• Limiting the prevalence of ‘cruising for parking'

Road Safety Campaigns

The Road Safety Team have been focusing on the use of mobile phones and the potential hazards they cause by introducing the campaign, “Share the Roads – Don’t Ruin a call/text” – aimed at drivers and pedestrians.

The Council also ran Exchanging Places events– blind spot awareness, “Seen Me, Seen You” visibility, Safer Urban Driving CPC as well as the usual drink drive/Dooring/Seatbelt and Speed campaigns.

School Enforcement Patrol

The Council have a school enforcement patrol attended by Civil Enforcement Officers. The school enforcement patrol is there to ensure that the school’s keep clear lines and restrictions are clear of traffic.

Civil Enforcement Officers attend schools where the Council have received reports of unsafe parking. The officers who attend at opening and closing times also hand out leaflets and booklets to raise awareness of the school keep clear markings and road safety.

School Streets

From September 2020, fourteen schools across Brighton and Hove have shut nearby roads for up to 60 minutes at the peak of morning rush hour and again in the afternoon.

The “School Streets” programme is a bid to support social distancing, increase road safety and promote active lifestyles.

Vehicles will not be allowed to enter the streets for up to an hour, which will vary from school to school but will be within the windows of 8am to 10am and 2pm to 4pm. Here is one testimony from a parent of one of the participating schools:

“Great to see my daughters #SchoolStreets road closure working so well. Lots of additional space for happy parents and children.”

Park and Stride Maps

The School Travel Team have been working with School Travel Ambassadors (STAs) in several schools in the city to ‘personalise’ their ‘Park and Stride’ maps. Schools use these maps to encourage parents to park away from the school gate and walk the remaining 5 minutes.

Walk to School Month

More than 10,000 primary school children, in over 30 schools, took part in Walk to School Month in October 2019. In addition, around 2,000 children and their families at 20 early years schools took part in our Walking and Wheeling Week/Month for early years.

Following resident consultations, three new parking schemes were introduced during the financial year 2019/20:

• Parking Zone U (St Luke’s) changed from ‘Light Touch’ to Zone C (Queens Park and Kemp Town)
• Hove Park (light touch) Zone P
• Hanover & Elm Grove Review – adding a Top Triangle from Zone S to Zone V

Many new schemes were introduced, in part, as a response to complaints about all-day (commuter) parking, which was causing difficulties for residents during the day. Issues with access for emergency services vehicles, pedestrian safety and traffic flow were also contributing factors.

St Luke’s area

In response to a number of letters and complaints, a survey in April 2018 resulted in almost 91 percent of respondents expressing a desire to join the neighbouring Zone C (Queen’s Park controlled parking zone). This meant becoming part of a full scheme, with restrictions in effect from 9am–8pm daily.

Zone U previously existed as a light-touch scheme in the area around St Luke’s Terrace, to the east of the city. Restrictions in Zone U operated Monday to Saturday 10am–11am and 2pm–3pm. The scheme was agreed at committee on 19th March 2019 and started in June 2019.

Hanover and Elm Grove

The Zone S ‘light touch’ scheme operates Monday to Friday 11am-midday and 6-7pm. A quarter of residents in the area responded to the consultation, with just over 60% in support of keeping the scheme hours as they are.

Some residents in a small number of streets known as the ‘top triangle’ supported further consultation to find out whether they would like to join the Zone V scheme.

Another problem raised was regarding pavement parking on Elm Grove. Along with other councils we are lobbying the government for pavement parking powers similar to those in London.

New scheme consultations

The schedule for proposed parking schemes up to 2025 was agreed during the meeting of the Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee on the 10 October 2017.

Some of this work which was agreed by Environment, Transport and sustainability Committee in October 2019 has slipped slightly due to the COVID-19 situation.

Coombe road area

The Coombe road area is a current priority.

We completed Parking scheme consultations between 1st quarter 2019 and 4th quarter 2020.

South Portslade

South Portslade is a current priority.

We are doing Parking scheme consultations between 2nd quarter 2019 and 1st quarter 2021.

Surrenden area

The Surrenden Area is a current priority.

We are doing Parking scheme consultations between 2nd quarter 2020 and 2nd quarter 2021.

Zone P Review (Hove Park Area)

The Zone P Review (Hove Park Area) is our first priority (after the current priorities)

We are doing Parking scheme consultations between 3rd quarter 2020 and 3rd quarter 2021.

Zone J Review (London Road Station area

The Zone J Review (London Road Station area) is our second priority.

We are doing Parking scheme consultations between 4th quarter 2020 and 4th quarter 2021.

Zone W/Zone L (Westbourne West and West Hove) Review and Hallyburton Road/Seven Sisters area (South of the Old Shoreham Road)

The Zone W/Zone L (Westbourne West and West Hove) Review and Hallyburton Road/Seven Sisters area (South of the Old Shoreham Road) is our third priority.

We are doing Parking scheme consultations between 2nd quarter 2021 and 2nd quarter 2022.

Roedean Area

The Roedean area is our fourth priority.

We are doing Parking scheme consultations between 3rd quarter 2021 and 3rd quarter 2022.

Hollingdean Area

The Roedean area is our fifth priority.

We are doing Parking scheme consultations between 4th quarter 2021 and 4th quarter 2022.

Parking spaces across the city

The below table shows the number of bays overall has increased due to new schemes, also changes of traffic orders and the growth of disabled bay requests.

You can request a parking scheme on our website.

Secure Motorcycle Anchors

The Parking Infrastructure Team has installed 60 secure ground anchors within solo motorcycle bay at various locations across the city.

This scheme was introduced following requests from residents and reports of highlighted areas from Sussex Police. It is hoped that the introduction of these security devices will make motorcycle bays more secure for riders.

The secure motorcycle anchor is designed to accommodate 22mm and 25mm motorcycle security chains and all have a drainage hole to enable water to disperse underground.

The scheme will be used to inform us how we roll-out further security for motorcycles across the rest of the city.

Did you know? Unlike some other types of fines, like speeding fines, it is not the driver who is responsible for a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN). Instead it is the owner, unless the vehicle was on hire in which case it is the hirer, who is liable for payment.

NSL, the council’s parking enforcement contractor, continues to work in close partnership with Brighton & Hove City Council to manage the deployment of Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) across the city.

While many Civil Enforcement Officers can be observed patrolling on foot, they may be deployed to their beats via a number of methods, including bus, car, cycle and scooter.

Issuing of Penalty Charge Notices

The table below shows the number of PCN’s issued in the last two years, divided according to higher and lower fee banding. Parking contraventions deemed to be ‘less serious’ will incur a lower initial penalty than more serious offences.

Compliance with the lower level contraventions can be explained by better use and understanding by PaybyPhone users.

Between 2018/19 and 2019/20 the number of PCNs issued to vehicles on-street and in car parks increased by 1.7 percent.

2019/20 has been the busiest year to date for Rapid Response calls and this is shown by the increase of higher-level contraventions. Also, as the size of the enforcement operation has expanded, so has the increased public awareness of the service.

Tackling Parking Problems

In June 2018, NSL began trialling a new role: an officer dedicated to handle complaints received via the Rapid Response phone service. Two years on, this role has increased efficiency of the service, while also increasing customer satisfaction and ensures enforcement is sent to where it is needed.

In 2019/20, a total of 7,797 complaints were reported via the phone service. This is an increase of 1,040 on the previous year.

The majority of complaints have continued to be about vehicles parked on double yellow lines outside of the city’s controlled parking zone.

Urgent issues requiring enforcement action can be dealt with by calling the rapid response telephone service: 0345 603 5469 (option 2). The team will aim to send an officer to the reported location within one hour of the call being made. Problems reported between 8pm and 9am will be dealt with as soon as possible, when service resumes the next morning.

The below table shows the streets with the largest number of Parking Penalty Charge Notices

Note: The number of Penalty Charge Notices depends on the length of the street as well as the number of parking contraventions.

Tips for avoiding a PCN

1. Watch for the signs
2. Read the information on the pay and display machines
3. Read instructions carefully
4. Be careful with regards to bus lanes
5. Leave bus stops for buses
6. Park safely at schools
7. Respect residential parking restrictions
8. Understand what loading/unloading is
9. Park within the bay markings
10. Err on the side of caution and if in doubt contact us

Events and Suspensions

Brighton & Hove plays host to a variety of events throughout the year. Parking bay suspensions and the associated enforcement is vital to ensure the events can take place. Main routes in the city are kept as clear as possible and travel disruption is kept to a minimum.

The Kemptown Carnival returned in June 2019 and the Council suspended 187 parking bays to allow for stages, stalls and to ensure vehicles were not obstructing the event. Pride is another large annual event which took place in August 2019 and 269 parking bays were suspended. The suspensions allowed access for the Pride Parade and to facilitate the street party. The Parking team work closely with event organisers and the suspension team at NSL to ensure there are minimal impacts in the roads concerned.

Bay suspensions also occur for a range of reasons that include, household removals, skip placement, building work and utilities work and filming.

In 2019/20 there was an increase from 2,239 to 2,379 suspension applications in comparison to the previous year.

Green Patrol Vehicles

This year many of the patrol vehicles were replaced by a greener fleet of vehicles. The diesel suspension van was replaced with a 100% electric alternative. In addition, two petrol patrol cars were replaced with hybrid cars and two scooters are now also electric.

The fleet of electric vehicles has also increased to enforce outer areas of large and hilly parking zones.

The Council’s Civil Enforcement Officers have a highly visible presence across Brighton and Hove. During their shifts Officers will frequently provide directions to local services and places of interest, report crimes and assist other agencies including the emergency services.

Here are some of the examples where CEO’s have assisted members of the public:

• CEO 931 Walked a member of public back to his vehicle 3 streets away to aid him with pay by phone payment
• CEO 832 helped an elderly lady change the wheel on her 4x4 after getting a puncture in St Josephs Close
• CEO 937 Rang RSPCA because there was a dog in a car for over 5.5 Hrs
• CEO 928 came across an elderly gentleman who had fallen in Withdean Road and was injured. Along with two members of public he organised an ambulance and waited with the man until the ambulance arrived.
• CEOs 853 & 839 helped an elderly gentleman who had left his nursing home and subsequently collapsed. They escorted and helped to carry him back to the home

Monitoring Verbal Abuse Against Civil Enforcement Officers

Brighton & Hove amongst many other authorities was asked by the British Parking Association to participate in a month-long monitoring project of abuse and violence against Civil Enforcement Officers.

The aim of this project was to gather data on all levels of abuse – from name calling to physical attacks. All forms of abuse are of course damaging, but not all abuse is highlighted or reported.

This project aimed to capture the data for the whole of September 2019 to establish the scale of abuse that Civil Enforcement Officers face.

To allow Civil Enforcement Officers to record this very simply and quickly we asked them to use their handheld devices to enter red, amber or green as appropriate:

Green

Low level name calling (low level means non swearing, low level of aggression, generally aimed at the role rather than the person, such as "jobsworth")

Amber

Verbal attack (profanity, aggressive in nature, hateful/getting personal such as wishing the person or their family harm)

Red

Physical attack (any form of intentional physical contact)

The figures for each classification for the whole month were:

A number of Civil Enforcement Officers have expressed that the ‘green’ abuse is difficult to deal with as it is insidious and over time has a more profound impact to an individual than the less often 'amber' or 'red' behaviour. It is also behaviour that there is unlikely to be any consequence for.

Mental Health First Aiders

As a result of this survey, some NSL staff have trained as mental health first aiders to help those officers who struggle with the negative impact of the abuse they face as part of their role.

Anyone that receives a Penalty Charge Notice and believes they should not have to pay the penalty, is entitled to write to us explaining why. The council will then consider the reasons given and decide if they are sufficient to warrant the cancellation of the PCN.

The Council’s web-based service allows customers to view specific details about Penalty Charge Notices they have received and can submit a challenge or representation, monitor the progress of the representation, view photos of the incident, and make payments.

The table below shows the number of bus lane and parking Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) challenge representations made to the Council.

In 2019/20 the number of incoming appeals increased by 4.6%. This is due to the increase in bus lane Penalty Charge Notices at the beginning of the financial year.

Appeals at adjudication

If the Council reject a person’s representation, they then have the right to present their case to the independent Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT) within 28 days from the rejection notice. TPT hear appeals against penalties issued for parking, bus lane and moving traffic contraventions in England (outside London) and Wales.

The table below shows the results of cases taken to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

The council generally does not contest an appeal when evidence is presented which provides grounds for cancellation, even at a late stage.

TPT Bus Lane packs

In 2019, the Parking Projects Team created video documentation of all our bus lanes across the city. The videos show all the signs and lines within the bus lanes and the packs point directly to the current traffic orders within each area. For further information please visit the TPT website.

Debt recovery

In the last year we have looking at ways to reduce the use of enforcement agents over time by improving our debt collection practices.

Debt Registration Prompt Letters

The first stage of this project was to send a debt registration prompt letter out on cases that have had charge certificates at least 15 days prior and still outstanding. This would give the debtor 14 days to make a payment before the PCN is registered as debt.

Decrease in Challenge Response Times

The Council has a dedicated and qualified specialist team who consider each case based upon its own merits. All formal correspondence is handled within the statutory time periods allowed for response. In 2019/20 we reduced the response time from six weeks to two weeks.

“A business case was proposed to close the front desk for an afternoon a week. This meant we could train more staff and then have a greater number of appeals officers available to clear the work and work towards an overall goal to eradicate the backlog going forward. A significant improvement to the quality and consistency of letters to drivers has also been achieved where correspondence is provided in plain English with a consistent level of clarity, application of Council policies and legal compliance.”

Steve Simpson, Parking Appeals Manager.

Brighton and Hove City Council and its partners want to make public transport reliable and punctual. Bus lanes, when operating properly, help improve journey times, punctuality and reliability which may help make public transport a more attractive option and in turn relieve congestion and reduce carbon emissions.

“The effective enforcement of the city’s bus lanes is essential in the fight against the march of urban congestion, air quality problems and CO2, and in enabling our high frequency transit services to do their work for our citizens.”

Martin Harris – Managing Director of Brighton & Hove Bus Company

CCTV Monitoring by the Traffic Control Centre

In 2018 the city’s bus lane CCTV enforcement was upgraded. The project involved the installation of 21 new camera sites and three existing cameras were also replaced and upgraded to Wi-Fi.

The 24 cameras have improved the capacity to enforce illegal driving in all priority lanes, improving journey times for buses, taxis and some motorcycles. The Traffic Management Team carry out daily checks on bus lane activity from 7:00 to 19:00. Alongside this, bus stop enforcement via CCTV helps allow buses to park against the raised kerbs to aid passengers on/off buses and helps maintain bus journey times.

The Traffic Control Team conduct daily Bus lane sign / line audits, plus strategic routes monitoring and incident reporting helping to keep the traffic moving.

Bus Lane Enforcement

CCTV cameras across the city automatically detect whether a non-approved vehicle is in a bus lane. New cameras installed in 2018 have improved reviewing facilities, allowing for more efficient data processing and issuing of PCNs by our staff in the Traffic Control Centre.

The number of Bus Lane Penalty Charge Notices has decreased from 75,029, in 2018/19 to 54,536 in 2019/20. The decrease is due to some CCTV cameras being removed in some other camera changes across the city.

• The St Peters church camera being taken down due to the lamp being removed for the Valley Gardens Project.
• Two new cameras and three relocations have been installed in Valley Gardens and will be operational in October 2020
• The Lewes Road/Combe Road camera was taken down due because of the road layout changing due to the Preston Barracks Development
• Oxford Street camera was taken down because the building it was mounted on has been demolished.

The table below shows the number of Bus Lane PCN’s issued in 2019/20:

In 2020/21 several new unattended bus lane cameras will be installed, one in North Street, five cameras in Valley Gardens and twelve cameras in various locations around the city.

Better bus lane enforcement will have played a key role in improving bus punctuality and the Brighton Bus Company has also been implementing other strategies including:

• Sponsoring of an enforcement officer to reduce delays to buses caused by other vehicles parking in bus stops and on bus routes
• More dual door buses
• Adding more running time to timetables

The table below shows where major locations where contraventions occurred in 2019/20:

The decrease of PCN’s being issued on Western Road is to extra signage erected in the side streets warning of the Bus Lane. This coming year 20 of the attended of the CCTV cameras that we share with Sussex Police, will be in use for monitoring of bus stops for illegally parked vehicles.

In Brighton and Hove, using car parks is often preferable to parking on the street as many roads are reserved for resident permit holders only. Car parks also allow parking for longer periods. Our car parks provide access to the town and an availability of parking space, absorbs traffic and reduces congestion.

The council operates four barrier entry car parks (The Lanes, Trafalgar Street, Regency Square and London Road).

Car park expenditure

Notes

The High Street Car Park figures shown are after a contribution has been made to the Council’s Housing Revenue Account.

Oxford Court Car Park has now been sold to facilitate a Doctors surgery development.

The table below shows the total figures for off-street parking over the last five years

As a result of COVID-19 and the closure of Oxford Street Car Park, the surplus from off street parking has decreased by £413,083 to £2,573,991.

Improvements

New Visual Message Signs (VMS) have now been installed outside all barrier car parks, informing visitors of car park capacity information, along with the addition of diversions information.

New bi-fold gates have been installed at London Road car park to replace the existing shutters that were in place. Replacing the shutters, that were often faulty and had to be left open, increased the safety of the car park and reduced noise for the neighbours at both the entry and exit.

The Council have completed extensive concrete works in London Road Car Park and other car parks this year – this has ensured the car parks are safe and have extended their useful life.

All of the Council’s carparks have Lifecare plans, structural appraisals plus annual and periodic inspections.

Park Mark: a safe place

All four of the Council’s barrier car parks are accredited with the Park Mark award.

In 2019/20 we have been tackling anti-social behaviour when it arises in the Council’s Car Parks with 24/7 CCTV monitoring and working alongside security patrols and Police Liaison.

The Council’s carparks are part of a safe space scheme, in allowing vulnerable people to go to the car parks and seek assistance.

Disabled Parking Accreditation

All of the Council’s barrier car parks have achieved the Disabled Parking Accreditation. The scheme recognises off-street parking facilities which are accessible to disabled people. The DPA is primarily aimed at improving parking for disabled people and reducing abuse of disabled bays.

Car parks that achieve the DPA also demonstrate to their customers that they are committed to creating high quality parking facilities for disabled people, such as:

• easy access
• good lighting
• good signage
• accessible payment methods
• enforceable designated bays

Dogs in hot cars campaign

Brighton & Hove has been identified as a ‘hot spot’ when it comes to calls received by the RSPCA concerning dogs being left alone in cars over the summer months. Posters are visible in all the Council’s car parks to raise awareness of the dangers of leaving a dog in a car on a hot day.

COVID-19

Signage was placed on the walls of all of the Council car parks. The floors were marked out for social distancing due to COVID-19. Following guidance from the BPA signage has been erected to ask customers to wear facemasks whilst in the car parks too.

Brighton & Hove City Council, Traffic Control Centre

The city’s Traffic Control Centre is a hub for traffic management and signals controls. Alongside this it provides customer service to pay-on-foot cars parks and around the clock controls at all the barrier car parks.

Motorists who require assistance can contact the Control Centre via an intercom and officers operate the barriers and pay machines remotely. The Control Centre is supported by a Mobile Maintenance Team and CCTV monitoring and work closely with Sussex Police and local contractors.

You can find further information on the Council’s car parks on our website.

Pay and display is available throughout Brighton & Hove. The cost and maximum allowed time will vary depending on the demand for available spaces.

There is a variety of short, medium and long-term spaces across the city. Long-term pay and display is not available in extremely busy locations, like in the centre of Brighton.

Payment methods

All machines are able to process chip-and-PIN transactions, as well as contactless purchases (including Apple Pay and Google Pay). Although machines that accept cash are in a minority, they can still be found in some of the city’s busier areas.

If you don’t have access to a bank card or want to pay with cash (where there is no option to do so), PayByPhone and the PayPoint system offer suitable alternatives.

Machine Maintenance

High expectations for machine reliability have been reflected in the maintenance targets set for diagnosing and fixing problems.

In 2019/20, 99 percent of cases where a machine had been reported due to failure, council engineers attended within 24 hours.

The maintenance team is also able to keep to a regular schedule of quarterly maintenance visits, rather than only going out when required.

It’s hoped that with regular maintenance the P&D machines will serve drivers in the city for the next ten years.

For more information on our pay and display machines please visit our website.

To see where you can find a pay-and-display machine near a location or destination, please visit our online pay-and-display location lists.

Pay by Phone

Pay by Phone processed 2.6 million transactions in Brighton and Hove in 2019/20, this accounts for 58% of all parking transactions. Help and guidance for customers Customers can pay in a number of ways, either by touch tone, text, mobile web or mobile app.

If you don’t have a smart phone you can call the automatic payment line or text.

PayByPhone has provided ways to help both new and existing customers. Customers can see a step by step guide on the PayByPhone website. 

Watch a YouTube video on how to pay for parking with PaybyPhone on the PaybyPhone YouTube channel.

Parking Permit Review

The review of Parking Permits has occurred because there is currently a wide range of parking permit types that have been added, without considering the opportunities for modernisation and consolidation. This has resulted in customers and staff questioning whether some of the permits are fit for purpose and are providing accounts of where permits are being abused.

The feedback we have received from staff and customers has resulted in a review of a range of permits; such as Traders Permits, Waivers, School Permits, Professional Carers Badges, Carers Permits and Hotel Permits.

By completing this Permit Review, we aim to increase customer satisfaction with the permit criteria as well as processes and as a result; reduce complaints received in relation to the permit provision. The results of the Permit Review will also lead to an easier/ more efficient permit suit for staff and support the delivery of the Council’s Corporate Strategy (2020-2023) to reduce emissions within Brighton and Hove.

The changes include:

• Businesses being able to apply for up to four permits, an increase from the current limit of two
• Merging traders and waiver permits which will allow greater flexibility for traders for short term jobs
• Traders being able to purchase yearly, monthly, weekly and daily permits
• Ability to purchase daily permits in ‘blocks’

Covid-19

As a result of Covid-19 our Permit Centre closed, this meant our ICT and Permit Team had to work quickly to develop a system for new permit applicants.

We launched a new online system for people to renew and pay for their parking permits and more than 90% of residents and businesses, and 80% of traders are now using this.

The table below shows the number of permits issued in the last four years categorised according to permit type.

The number of permits on issue appear broadly comparable to previous years.

The table below charts the take up of resident permits in each parking zone over the previous 4 years. Numbers in brackets indicate the maximum annual allocation of visitor permits per permit holder.

’+1’ refers to one additional permit issued to a resident for visitor use. This system operates in match-day zones only. The number of permits on issue is comparable to last year’s figures.

Waiting lists

Parking zones Y & Z are currently the only zones within the city with waiting lists for resident’s permits.

The chart below compares the number of residents on the waiting list in areas, Y and Z parking zones over the last three years:

Low-emission vehicle discounts

Parking management can deliver air quality improvements through the promotion of more sustainable fuel sources, through pricing a permit pricing band where the cost of parking charges or permits is differentiated by vehicle fuel type such as high / low emission permits.

The council offers a 50% discount on permits for people with low emission vehicles (does not include diesel vehicles).

As of April 2018, low emission is defined as a non-diesel vehicle that produces 110g/km or less CO2 emissions. In addition, the price of permits for vehicles producing 166g/km or more CO2 emissions has increased by 25 percent.

This needs to be verified by the presentation of the V5C document.

The tables below shows the number of High/ Low Emission Permits issued in 2019/2020:

You can view the most recent reports on the council’s website.

New Blue Badge Legislation

From the 30th August 2019 the Department of Transport expanded eligibility and simplified the application process for Blue Badges.

New online eligibility checks launched to make it simpler for people applying for Blue Badges. People with hidden disabilities, including anxiety disorders or a brain injury, can apply now for a Blue Badge.

The Blue Badge Team received training to assess these applications and to understand exactly what this new guidance meant for people with hidden disabilities. Since the legislation came into force 218 badges have been issued under this new guidance.

We have received many comments about how this change has helped the lives of many people. Blue Badge holders can travel to doctor’s appointments, do their own shopping, maintain independence where possible or keep children or adults who would usually be at risk, safe when traveling.

Partnership Working

In preparation for the new guidance to come into effect and after, the Blue Badge Team have been part of many training sessions to learn more about conditions that we might come across in new applications. This included training from the Speak Out Learning Disability charity, Action for Hearing Loss which is a deaf awareness charity and with Mind for Mental Health awareness training.

All these sessions were insightful. While these training sessions were useful with the effect of the new guidance, it was also important that we were part of these so that we could understand the best ways to communicate with our customers and to provide a simple to use service for all.

Blue Badge Applications

The below table highlights the number of Blue Badges issued and processed in 2019/20 compared to 2018/19.

Community Resolution Orders (CRO’s)

The Community Resolution Order video is a way of deterring further offences and educating people that misuse of a Blue Badge is not a victimless offence.

In 2019/20, 168 individuals living in Brighton & Hove have attended a Community Resolution Order at Hove Town Hall with Sussex Police and a Blue Badge Investigator. Following this:

• Only 5 individuals have progressed to re-offend
• 35 cases have been sent for prosecution.
• 24 Blue Badges were retained after being used when they had been cancelled following a report as lost
• 318 Blue Badges were retained. 136 of those were destroyed as they were expired, cancelled or the badge holder was deceased
• 7 individuals have received a formal caution.

What can happen if you misuse a Blue Badge?

In February 2020 an individual was convicted after trial, of four charges under section 115 RTRA. Use of a Blue Badge with intent to deceive and two charges of Section 112 RTRA - failure to respond.

The Blue Badge Team worked hard in putting together a solid case to prove fraud had taken place and the defendant received the following penalty:

• Suspended Sentence Order (8 weeks suspended for 12 months) concurrent on all section 115 RTRA offences
• £750 costs
• 80 hours unpaid work

For more information on Blue Badges please visit our website.

Our promise to you

Our vision of getting things right first time, every time is the driving force behind our customer promise. To do this we have to ensure staff have the skills, behaviours and tools to deliver the service you need.

In 2019/20 we have been working towards:

• Establishing a customer experience working group for Parking & Transport focusing on making improvements to the services directly for the benefit of customers
• Integrating with MyAccount and the Customer Index to provide an intuitive and streamlined application process for customers.
• Communicating with customers online (email/ website/social media) where possible and appropriate. This is often quicker and more convenient.
• Working with customers to find the best way to get help if they have specific access needs
• Having open conversations in team meetings regarding inclusion, equalities and diversity

Customer Ambassadors

Our customer contact ambassadors have been mapping ‘customer journeys’ to move transactions online, update our webpages and support our ‘roadmap’ to recovery.

Our workforce

Our staff are our greatest asset. We firmly believe that investing in our staff’s wellbeing and ongoing training is essential to ensure our customers receive the service they deserve. From 2019, Tuesday afternoons were set aside for staff training and development. This has proven to be a huge success. An example of this is the reduction of PCN Challenge Response times, from six weeks to two weeks by March 2019.

Here are some examples of our training programme:

• Improving Customer Experience
• City and Guilds Notice Processing
• Train the Trainer
• Taking Control of Goods and Vulnerable Customers
• CCTV Enforcement
• Plain English Training
• Unconscious Bias Workshops

Investing in our Staff

One of our priorities is to ensure staff wellbeing in the workplace, and in turn, this creates a culture where our staff can provide our customers with quality service. We have focused on the mental wellbeing of staff this year, and part of this focus was about improving how we communicate with each other as much as how we communicate to the public.

Many of the Parking Team have attended the following workshops:

• Resilience training
• Cancer awareness
• The menopause demystified
• Midlife for men demystified
• Identifying and understanding mental health

Customer Service Feedback

Brighton & Hove City Council has a formal complaints procedure and provides the opportunity for customers to complement our services and staff. Where complaints are received, these are investigated and the complainant responded to, outlining what action, if appropriate will be taken to rectify the matter. This year, stage one complaints have decreased by 23% from 180 to 139 corporate complaints.

In 2019/20 the Parking Services Team dealt with:

• 139 Stage 1 complaints
• 15 Stage 2 complaints

The percentage of cases that were replied to within the specified timeframe were:

• 87% of complaints were replied to within 10 days
• 31% of Stage 1 cases were upheld or partially upheld.

The Parking Team received 93 compliments, which is an increase of 40 compared to 2018/ 19.

Here are some of the compliments received in 2019/20.

Our Vision: getting things right every time

• The parking and travel website pages received over 130,000 unique page views
• 2,896 tweets were posted to the Parking and Transport Twitter feed
• 93 compliments, which is an increase of 40 compared to 2018/19
• 46,116 telephone calls were received, an average of 3,843 calls per month
• 27,882 e-mails were received in the Parking inboxes
• The team researched and responded to 71 Freedom of Information Requests
• The average speed a call was answered was2 minutes 39 seconds
• Stage one complaints have decreased by 23% from 180 to 139 corporate complaints
• All of our customer response times are above target Parking Services is performing well!

Parking charges are designed to manage the availability of parking spaces. For example, charges may need to be set at a higher level in the city centre to reduce demand for on-street parking. This in turn helps to improve air quality and ease congestion at busy locations.

Fees and charges are reviewed annually to make sure they cover the cost of services and provide value for money. Changes are approved by the Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee. The council has the discretion to set charges to reflect its parking policies.

The surplus is the money remaining after direct costs for enforcement, administration, maintaining parking machines. The majority of the parking surplus is spent on providing free bus passes for older and disabled people, which the Council has a legal duty to provide.

Money is also invested back into supporting bus services and other transport projects. You can read more about this in the How we invest the income chapter.

You can find information from the latest committee meeting to approve fees and charges on our website.

The below table shows income by source and the direct cost of civil parking enforcement.

Any surplus made through parking fees and charges has to be invested into transport and highways. This is a legal requirement. In 2019/20, after direct costs, there was a surplus of £16,500,790. This is a decrease of 1.68% on the previous financial year. The table below shows a year-on-year comparison of how surplus income was invested back into transport and highways.

On Street Parking Surplus Spending

Use of surplus income from parking charges and penalty charges is governed by section 55 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. Once the need for provision of off-street parking facilities and to make good deficits to central funding has been met, use of surpluses is currently confined to the provision of public transport services or to road, air quality or environmental improvements.

Supported bus services

The Council supports some bus routes by subsidising the costs of running these services. In financial year 2019/20 the Council spent £1,216,309 on supporting bus services. You can find out more about supported bus services on our website.

You can find out more about supported bus services.

Concessionary bus fares

The majority of the surplus is spent on providing free travel for both the elderly and disabled citizens. We spent £10,774,831 on this service in financial year 2019/20.

Local transport plan costs

Since 2011/12, the Local Transport Plan (LTP) has been wholly funded by a grant from the Department for Transport. As a consequence, no borrowing costs are included in relation to the Local Transport Plan for the current year.

Capital investment borrowing costs of £2,362,653 relate to previous Local Transport Plan schemes. The money spent on borrowing costs has continued to fall each year.

Each year a report is presented to the Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee to agree how funds will be allocated to the Local Transport Plan capital programme for the following year.

Some of these projects have included:

• Quality Bus Partnership Initiative
• Walking facilities (dropped kerbs and tactile)
• Cycle parking
• A23 Sustainable Transport Corridor
• Cycle route signing
• Travel plans for schools
• Pedestrian priority schemes
• Traffic control improvements
• Brighton Station gateway project
• Walking network improvements
• Old Shoreham Road cycle route
• Pedestrian wayfinding and signing
• Electric vehicle charging points (Local Transport Plan)
• Cycle priority schemes
• New Road/Church Street junction and crossing
• Chatham Place rail bridge support
• Bear Road retaining wall
• Dyke Road Drive retaining wall
• Marine Parade retaining wall
• Footways maintenance

Concessionary travel: how the parking surplus is spent

A mandatory bus concession for older and disabled people has been in place since 2001. The scheme has gradually been extended since its introduction and since April 2008 has provided free off-peak local bus travel to eligible older and disabled people anywhere in England.

Decision making is aided by a trained independent Occupational Therapist. They assess the applicant’s mobility under criteria issued by the Department for Transport.

Concessionary bus travel extension

Twenty-Four-hour concessionary bus travel is now available for disabled people and has been extended during the pandemic to include older people. This was introduced early on during Covid-19 lockdown to support passengers who may need to get to the shops early to buy essential items.

Bus Pass Applications in 2019/20 compared to 2018/19

There were 2,917 more applications than in 2018/19. There have been slight increases in applications for those who have a hearing impairment. This was due to the positive response to the hearing loss promotional campaign.

Taxi vouchers

As an alternative to applying for a concessionary bus pass, Brighton & Hove City Council currently offers taxi vouchers (up to the value of £70 per year) to residents who are unable to use their bus pass because of a disability. To discourage misuse, vouchers have been personalised with a photograph of the user.

Taxi vouchers issued in 2019/20

You can find more information on taxi vouchers on our website.

‘What my Concessionary Bus Pass means to me.’

“Mrs X has a Disabled Concessionary Bus Pass and her symptoms are unseen. This can be a challenge for Mrs X when she travels on the bus and has experienced discriminatory behaviour from bus drivers and passengers.

Mrs X is on the autism spectrum, has ADHD, dyspraxia and sensory issues. Everyday tasks such as going to work, going to the supermarket, attending appointments and accessing supportive services in the community are horrific experiences for her. There have been days in peak travelling times that Mrs X is just not physically and mentally able to get on the bus due to the volume of people.

The Concessionary Bus Pass gives Mrs X the freedom to be able to travel to work in a job she loves as a cleaner, between 5am and 7am, to socialise and to receive treatment.

Mrs X would love the Disabled Concessionary Bus Pass to give her, and people like her, access to travel safely, independently and with freedom 24/7. Mrs X loves her Disabled Concessionary Bus Pass.

More information on bus passes for older persons and disabled residents is available on the Council’s website

You can view all of the current parking charges in car parks and for pay and display on our website.

View more information on EV charging in the city.

Other recommended sources for information

Zap Map (for charge point locations plotted on a map)

Electric Brighton (community-oriented information for EV drivers in Brighton & Hove)

On-street

Off-street